Computer systems, as with other operating environments, have found numerous applications in the industrial automation environment and are employed ubiquitously throughout, e.g., to control the operation of a process, machine, device, and the like. To facilitate control of a process, etc., one or more controllers (e.g., a programmable logic controller (PLC)) are utilized with input/output (I/O) devices controlling operation of the process along with gathering process information (e.g., measurements, data, values, parameters, variables, metadata, etc.) pertaining to how the process is performing. To maximize interaction of an operator with the process, the process information can be forwarded from the controller to one or more interfaces, also known as human machine interfaces (HMI's), graphical user interfaces (GUI's), terminals, and the like, for display to the operator. Upon review of the displayed process information, and in conjunction with hard and soft controls associated with the interface, the operator can further adjust the process as required to facilitate correct process operation. Commands can be generated at the interface, forwarded to the controller, and accordingly acted upon by the controller. For example, the temperature of a furnace can be detected by a thermocouple, signals are sourced from the thermocouple by the controller, forwarded by the controller for display on the interface, whereupon an operator notices a drop in the furnace temperature, presses an ‘increase temperature’ control, and a furnace heater is switched on in response, via the controller.
Many applications require devices (e.g., HMI's) to be connected to a network using a linear topology where devices typically include two Ethernet ports (dual ports) and are connected in sequence, one device to the next, per the configuration of an Ethernet network. However, a potential problem with this approach is that a failure of one node, or a link between two nodes, causes nodes on either side of the failure to be unreachable. In effect, the network is broken. An approach to address such a problem is a device level ring (DLR) network. DLR utilizes an Ethernet based ring protocol to facilitate connection of the networked devices, where the devices can be configured in a ring topology such that even in the event of a single-point failure (e.g., failure of a link between two nodes) communication can still occur between the remaining devices comprising the network.
Further, for a device to operate in a given network (e.g., a linear topology network) requires different network hardware/configuration to facilitate such operation compared with a device configured to operate in a different type of network (e.g., a ring topology network). Hence, for example, while the requirements of a HMI may be the same for a process operating with a DLR network as that of an HMI working in a star network (e.g., display of process parameters, data acquisition, etc.) two separate devices have to be stored in inventory and made available to a customer, e.g., a first HMI configured for DLR topology operation and a second HMI configured for star topology operation. Offering two distinct devices to perform similar functionality adds undesired complexity to a company's product offerings in terms of catalog numbers, manufacturing, inventory, and the like.
Further, other forms of network protocol may be encountered in an industrial plant. For example, Ethernet, DLR (which is a flavor of Ethernet protocol), and other network protocols may exist such as, for industrial applications, Ethernet Industrial Protocol (EtherNet/IP or ENIP) has been developed, where EtherNet/IP is an industrial application layer protocol used for communication between industrial control systems and their components, such as a programmable automation controller, programmable logic controller or an I/O system.
Another protocol is NEO, developed by ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, for communication at the chassis/backplane level of a control system. NEO was developed to extend functionality compared with standard Ethernet protocol. In effect, NEO can be considered to be Ethernet operating at the backplane physical layer, e.g., at a board layer rather than at a cable layer.
The above-described deficiencies of conventional networked devices are merely intended to provide a contextual overview of some of the problems of conventional systems and techniques, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and techniques, and corresponding aspects of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.